What Exactly Is The Best Canadian Rewards Program?

Many people think rewards programs aren’t worth their time because it seems like are collecting points for years but still don’t get a very worthwhile reward for the hassle of carrying around all that extra plastic in their wallet. Well, that much IS true! But only if you don’t take an active role in earning reward points by focusing on special events, coupons, and promotions so that you earn rewards much more quickly. Taking advantage of a good promotion can easily yield more rewards in one purchase than you could collect in a 5 year period of earning them at the regular rate!

That said, there is still one rewards program in Canada that stands out from all the others by making rewards so quick and easy to earn that it seems almost too good to be true. What do I mean by this? Well, for example, a couple of years back I was able to purchase some high end electronics, like an iPod for myself and an XBox 360 for my friend, and in doing so earn enough reward points to essentially pay for the cost of the items being purchased. What I mean is that the value of the rewards earned was greater than the total cost of the iPod and the XBox! What reward did I earn, you might ask? Essentially a store credit that could be used to buy food, personal hygiene products, and other general merchandise that I would need to purchase anyway. That’s right, it was as good as cash in my jeans, making the iPod and Xbox basically FREE! Doesn’t that sound too good to be true to you?

Well, for me, it gets even better! I have actually used this same rewards program to earn as much as $4,500 in free merchandise every single year for the past few years. You read that right, four thousand five hundred dollars! Now there is a catch; the main reason I am able to earn that much is because I have a very serious disease that requires me to purchase expensive medical supplies on a regular basis. These supplies are eligible to earn regular points as well as bonus points during points promotions, so my points add up extremely quickly. The good news for you is that, before I had this disease, I was still able to earn $500 to $1000 in rewards per year quite easily just by purchasing regular everyday essential items.

So What Rewards Program Could Possibly Be This Good?

I won’t keep you in suspense any longer! It’s the Shoppers Optimum rewards program by Shoppers Drug Mart. I bet you weren’t expecting that now were you?Especially not the men, right? You probably didn’t even know that you could purchase mp3 players or gaming systems at a drug store and I wouldn’t blame your for that either, because it does seem very bizarre. The fact of the matter is that in the past few years Shoppers Drug Mart has transformed itself from being just a drug and convenience store into practically being mini Walmarts! They have stocked almost any product that you can imagine, but they do tend to rotate their stock frequently on a seasonable and time-limited basis, so you won’t always find what you’re looking for. You need to keep checking back to see what’s new!

Now, I do have to warn you that the Optimum program has undergone a series of changes recently that have lessened the overall value of the program. In particular on July 1st, 2010, they instituted some changes to point redemption levels so that it now takes more points to achieve the same reward as before. Even with all these changes, the Optimum program is still easily the most lucrative rewards program in Canada but unfortunately I won’t be earning $4500 in free rewards every year anymore. From now on, it will be more like $3000.

What Can You Buy At Shoppers Drug Mart?

Well, like I said, their inventory does change rapidly but you would probably like an idea of some of the things you can buy if you haven’t spent much time shopping there before. Here is a list of some of the things I have purchased from them in the past to give you an idea.

• All kinds of food products:
  • Milk, cheese, butter, eggs, pop, chip, snacks, pasta, ice cream, bread, frozen food, coffee, tea, condiments, baking ingredients, spices, and much more.
• All kinds of household products:
  • Laundry products, cleaning products, toiletries, baby products, personal hygiene products, and so on.
• All kind of kitchen products:
  • Tea box, storage containers, dish soap, paper towel, tinfoil, plastic wrap, etc.
• Electronics:
  • Nintendo Wii, Wiimotes and accessories, Wii Fit, and Wii games.
  • XBox 360 and controllers.
  • iPod Nano.
  • Fuji digital camera and memory cards.
  • Rechargeable batteries.
  • Sony video camera and storage media.
  • Bluray player.
  • 2 Acer netbook computers.
  • Movies and CDs.
• Outdoor furniture & supplies:
  • 4 zero gravity chairs for our deck.
  • A 2 person bistro set also for our deck.
• Many indoor and outdoor decorations, including Christmas decorations.
• All kinds of gift items for friends and family.

That is only a partial list of items that I can think of off the top of my head, but it should give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect to find at Shoppers Drug Mart when you shop there. I am constantly amazed by their product line and the new things that they are stocking all the time. If you talked to me 5 years ago, I would have said you were crazy if you told me you could buy most of these things in a drug store.

How Do You Get Started With Shoppers Optimum?

Before you can start earning a massive amount of rewards using the Shoppers Optimum program, you do need to learn how the program works so that you can get the maximum reward return on your spending. Fortunately, we have a complete guide to the Shoppers Optimum program that will walk you through all the various points earning and redemption promotions as well as all the different stacking techniques you can use to increase your rewards potential. Then, once you’ve mastered the Shoppers Optimum program, you can move on to some of the other Canadian rewards programs found in our rewards programs section.

Recent Updates

We have actually just completed an update to our Shoppers Optimum section that includes the recent July 1st, 2010 changes to the program along with fixing a few typos and adding some new information. So if you’ve read through some of it before, you may want to consider giving it another read so you are up to date with the most recent happenings.

What About You?

Do you agree with me that the Shoppers Optimum program is the best Canadian rewards program out there? If not, what other program do you think tops it and why? Do you have any tips or tricks that I haven’t covered regarding Shoppers Optimum? Please leave your own shopping stories, thoughts, and other input in the comments below!